Piedmont Driving Club
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The Piedmont Driving Club is a private social club with two club houses in Atlanta, Georgia. It has enjoyed a reputation as one of the most prestigious private clubs in the South.
Founded in 1887 originally as the Gentlemen's Driving Club, the name reflected the interest of the members to "drive" their horse & carriages on the club grounds (see driving club). The club later briefly used the adjacent grounds as a golf course until it sold the land to the city in 1904 to create Piedmont Park. The club reluctantly admitted its first black member in 1994.[1]
In keeping with its original purpose—the promotion of recreation and enjoyment for its members and their families—the club's current facilities include dining, golf, swimming, fitness, tennis, platform tennis and squash. In May 2000, the club built a Rees Jones designed 18 hole championship golf course and executive Par 3 course several miles away from the main clubhouse at 4405 Camp Creek Parkway. In 2014, the Piedmont Driving Club hosted one of two 2014 US Amateur Qualifier golf tournaments in Georgia. [2]
From July 2008 through December 2009, it underwent a massive renovation to its informal dining and athletic facilities. The Squash program was expanded to include two international hardball doubles courts and two international singles courts. The club hosted the annual cross-border, US versus Canada, Lapham Grant competition for the second time in 2012.
The by-laws from the 1920s stipulate that membership was capped at 500, new members had to be vouched for by three current members and that successful candidates receive zero "no" votes from the others. A semi-annual fee of $20 was required. There was to be no open bar and no one was allowed on the premises after midnight (or be fined $50). Membership continues to reflect the diverse business and social leadership within Atlanta.
It is mentioned in Tom Wolfe's book A Man in Full, in which he describes it as "the very sanctum, the very citadel of White Establishment Atlanta."[3]
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